Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Fox Home Entertainment – 93 minutes – 2004 – Unrated – 1080p Widescreen 2.35:1 – DTS Lossless 5.1 Audio Mix

Everyone likes an underdog story, right? Rocky, The Karate Kid, and now Dodgeball? This is not exactly the type of sport that makes you stand up and cheer, but if you lower your expectations, you should be able to find some laughs. DodgeBall is available on Blu-ray from Fox Home Entertainment, so lace up your sneakers.

THE MOVIE

Vince Vaughn plays the owner of a local gym that caters to losers who can barely pay their membership fees. Ben Stiller is the CEO of a mega workout facility called GloboGym, who wants nothing more than to buyout Vaughn’s company so his facility can reign supreme. The only way Vaughn stands a chance of saving his gym is by getting a team together and winning a vollyball championship to get the cash. As you can easily figure out, Vaughn’s team deafest the villainous Stiller and saves his business.

Dodgeball was funny five years ago, but seeing it now delivers a chuckle or two, but other than that there’s not much there. Stiller plays one of his most over the top characters to date, looking like a gay porn star with Shaun Cassidy hair and a John Holmes mustache. Vaughn steps aside and plays the straight man, allowing Stiller and the rag tag team of co-stars to do whatever it takes to get a laugh.

Realistically, if you like this film and you already own the standard DVD, this Blu-ray is not much of an upgrade. But this film does have somewhat of a cult following, so if you’ve never seen it and you’re fans of Ben Stiller or Vince Vaughn you may get some laughs from viewing it.

VIDEO

DodgeBall comes to Blu-ray with a full 1080p image in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and though it looks good with bright crisp colors, it’s not exactly the type of film you bought a Blu-ray player for. At times some shots look soft, but overall it’s a decent transfer. Should you toss your DVD for this Blu-ray? No. But if this is your first time owning DodgeBall, this is the way to go.

AUDIO

Offering a DTS Lossless 5.1 audio mix, DodgeBall sounds good, with clear dialogue and solid background effects, such as the crowd scenes during the games. You won’t necessarily crank your speakers up to ten for this one, but it does the trick.

EXTRAS

All of the supplements that were on the standard DVD have been ported over for the Blu-ray, but overall it’s basic stuff.

There’s a feature commentary with writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber, actors Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn.

Twelve minutes of deleted scenes may deliver a chuckle or two.

DodgeBall Boot Camp goes behind the scenes to show what the actors went through to get ready for looking like pros in the sport.

Justin Long: A Study in Ham & Cheese is a series of bloopers from the film’s co-star.

BOTTOM LINE

DodgeBall is not for everyone’s taste, but the film does have a following. This Blu-ray is an exact clone of the standard DVD with a slight bump in image and sound, so those interested may want to rent it first to see if it’s worth their cash.

SCORES (out of 5):

The Movie: 2.5

Video: 3.0

Sound: 3.0

Extras: 2.5

Bottom Line: 2.5